Why is President Trump obsessed with a political message that caused his party to lose control of Congress?
The answer lies right in front of Republicans. But they could not find the heart of the boy in the fairy tale who boldly said, “The emperor has no clothes.”
So, if you hold a Republican seat in Congress, do you think you would be willing to raise your hands and tell Trump that President Biden won the 2020 election fair and square?
Metaphorically speaking, congressional Republicans refuse to speak out for fear of having that hand chopped off.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is the latest Republican leader to conclude that it would be best to cooperate with Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in 2020.
Cornyn abruptly abandoned his longstanding opposition to eliminating the Senate filibuster, allowing Trump-backed bills to pass with only Republican votes.
The new law imposes sweeping new restrictions on voting that will effectively end mail-in voting. Republicans nationwide warned that the new law would disenfranchise millions of seniors and women whose maiden names may differ from their married names. Rural voters will be hurt. Those districts that historically vote Republican.
But no one will tell Trump.
Certainly not Corning. He still dreams of Trump backing him to win the Texas Republican primary to become the party’s nominee for a U.S. Senate seat.
“Conversations with nearly a dozen Republican state and county chairmen and strategists show the party is largely eager to move beyond its election grievances over Trump and re-litigate…” Politico reported last week. “But the president wouldn’t rest, subpoenaing 2020 election records and pressuring lawmakers to pass legislation to reform registration laws.”
“The president continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen…” The Wall Street Journal reported in plain language.
Federal and local courts, some led by Republican-appointed judges including Trump, have also revealed to Trump the truth about his 2020 election defeat.
Bill Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general during the 2020 election, found no evidence of massive voter fraud or any evidence of a conspiracy to prevent Trump from being elected. Conservative media companies have paid huge settlements over accusations they promoted Trump’s false claims about election fraud.
None of this seems important to Trump. He will turn 80 before the November election. His social media messages became increasingly violent and angry. He started a war with no clear end. Polls show that most Americans, especially independent voters all-important, do not like the war.
Any strategy to support a Republican victory in the 2026 midterm elections is secondary to him. After his party suffered heavy losses in the 2018 midterm elections, Trump, in his first term, said the problem was simply that he was not on the ballot.
In addition to false claims of voter fraud as his midterm theme, Trump has urged Republican-majority state legislatures to redraw congressional districts to make them more likely to elect Republicans. But the move also prompted countermeasures.
California has also made its own redistricting changes. Virginia may soon come to power under newly elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger, whose victory is widely seen as a backlash against the Trump administration’s hostility toward federal workers. Preliminary estimates indicate that Virginia’s congressional delegation may tilt toward Democrats by a ratio of 10 to 1.
The political consequences are already clear.
Rep. Kevin Kelly, R-Calif., announced last week that he would run as an independent in the Sacramento area while continuing to caucus with House Republicans. Keeley was redistricted as a Democratic-leaning seat after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) responded to aggressive partisan gerrymandering in Texas.
Kelly’s predicament illustrates how a redistricting battle that began in Texas at Trump’s urging triggered retaliation in California and left some current officials scrambling to save their political careers.
Overly aggressive deportations of undocumented immigrants also come with political costs. Polls show Trump has alienated most Latino voters.
The backlash could cost Republicans seats in Texas and could even jeopardize Republican Senate seats if Democrats unite behind a candidate like state Rep. James Talarico.
This is the essence of “boomerang politics.”
Trump’s complaints after his 2020 loss included telling Republicans not to trust Georgia’s U.S. Senate election. This caused many of his loyal voters to stay home and the Republican lost two U.S. Senate seats.
At recent campaign rallies, Trump has often joked about “braiding” — his description of a meandering, unclear speaking style that is often full of insults and has no correspondence with truth, facts or objective political reality.
But Republicans may soon find themselves dealing with something other than “weave” — a “boomerang.” That’s a reference to policies and power moves that look set to revive quickly and prepare to hit the Republican Party this November.
It’s possible this time next year that House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will seek to pass a set of broadly supported Democratic policies. Among them: Medicare for All, a $15 federal minimum wage, ending the carried interest loophole and limiting what critics say is a blank check for foreign aid to Israel’s Netanyahu government.
If that happens, Democrats may have Trump to thank.
Juan Williams is a senior political analyst at Fox News Channel and an award-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of the new book “A New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement“.
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